TSAMTO, October 14. The British Ministry of Defense announced the arrival on October 11 at the Brize Norton Airbase in Oxfordshire of the 21st (out of 22 ordered) BTA A-400M Atlas aircraft.
The aircraft (r.n. ZM420 / s.n. MSN056) flew to the UK after the completion in Madrid of the acceptance by the commission of the Organization for the Purchase and Maintenance of Defense Products (Defense Equipment & Support – DE&S) of the UK Ministry of Defense.
As reported by CAMTO, the UK, among the seven countries included in the European Arms Procurement Authority (OCCAR), signed an agreement for the supply of 25 units of A-400M in December 2001. It was planned that the first aircraft would be put into service in 2011, but for various reasons, the delivery dates of the A-400M were postponed. In 2011, the UK reduced the order by 3 units. With this in mind, the total cost of the order is estimated at 2.75 billion pounds.
The first of the 22 aircraft was transferred to the British Air Force at the Airbus Defence & Space facility in Seville (Spain) on November 14, 2014 and was officially adopted on November 27, 2014. The 20th aircraft joined the British Air Force in July 2018.
In the "Armed Forces Equipment Plan for 2021-2031" published in February last year, without disclosing details, the British Ministry of Defense indicated that it could purchase additional A-400M aircraft.
Now the total order for the supply of A-400M aircraft is 178 units. (Germany – 53 units, France – 50 units, Spain - 27 units, Great Britain - 22 units, Turkey - 10 units, Belgium – 7 units, Luxembourg - 1 unit, Malaysia - 4 units, Indonesia – 2 units, Kazakhstan – 2 units).
According to Airbus Defense & Space, 112 aircraft have been delivered to customers at the moment, including: Great Britain – 21 units, France – 19 units, Belgium – 6 units, Germany – 38 units, Malaysia – 4 units, Spain – 13 units, Turkey – 10 units, Luxembourg - 1 unit.
